Naughty Rottweiler

[Cobland]

Our female rottweiler is out walked 2-3 times per day, at night she is in her pen but runs the garden duing the day. She is starting to act like a puppy again, shes 19 months old.

Now when i walk her i cant let her off the lead as she will no longer come back to me again, she barks when there is nothing there.

When i got her she wouldnt do a thing, she was left in a pen and only bothered with when she was getting fed. I trained her to come back, which she would do and she only ever barked when something was about.

We also got her housetrained but now if she comes in she would do her business in the house. Weve had her to the vet who could find nothing wrong with her. We have a baby coming in march and i just dont think i could handle her then if she continues to be this way.

Have tried the anti barking collar on her but she acts like its not there, anyone suggest anything?

 

[lochpearl]

is the barking collar the spray or the electric one? I have had the same problem with my dog with the running off and I bought the spray collar, it worked for a while and she then got used to it and started running off again, we then tried the different smelling sprays and found that the mustard one started working. Now all we have to do is show the collar and she behaves!

 

[alicedove]

At least it sounds as though you have quite a bit of time before March.

You may be need to ask the help of a dog trainer to come to you, best use a police/ex army one rather than those people who reckon they can whisper and can't really...

Routine, very important. And don't do that rubbing nose in stuff and telling dog off after the event, such as when she finally returns to you after running off, none of that works.

With the hose training you have to catch her in the act, with a nice smart slap or shout but only when she's at it..

If you use the electric collar, it is VITALLY IMPORTANT that you are nothing to do with the zZAP she gets! She goes to ignore you and you already called her with lovely yummy treats, then... as she is back turned and you DON'T SPEAK you press the zapper. Should be turned up so it hurts.. sad, I know... then, when she has finished reacting... you call again and very OH SO SWEETLY rattle a nice biscuit tin/crisp packet/ lovely smelly cheese whatever, and reward her profusely. Should only take two or three goes.

 

[Cobland]

Shes a lovely dog and i love her to bits, i just dont understand why shes starting to act like this all of a sudden. She is in a routine, walkies at 7am and then breakfast, she isnt on working dog food and her food hasnt been changed. She gets walkies again around 5pm and then dinner at 6 when we get ours. Walkies again around 9-10pm before we head to bed, its a shorter around the square job!

Shes a wonderful natured dog but she just doesnt seem to want to listen. Shes also chewing her kennel at night and does alot of barking then. Her barks are weird, its like one bark, then 5 seconds later another bark and continues like this!

Weve tried the sonic one, the one that makes the noise, the spray and the one that gives a shock, none have worked. Our last hope was a muzzle that allowed her to still pant and drink, but it was ripped inside a day!

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Few thoughts, is it anything to do with her season, is she due or in season? Is her hearing ok? Don't know anything about Rotties but some dogs are more likely to get hearing problems, and deaf dogs often make more noise.

If you need a muzzle, try the Baskerville ones, available all good pets shops (I sell them!) and they do a short muzzle one for her shape of head.

A dog trainer is a very good idea, and I second AleeDee, old school type will be of much more help with these issues.

Anything changed in your local (to her) area? Another dog that barks back? Cat winding her up just out of reach?

I know you haven't changed the food, not sure what you mean by working dog food, generally working dog food is at the not so good end of the food chain. (If you would like a bit of food advice PM me).

 

[Cobland]

There is nothing new about the area. Her hearing was one of the things tested, i wasnt there it was hubby who took her.

Shes also now chewing her kennel!

Its normally her that starts other dogs off lol, but there is only 2 other dogs in the area, she was in season 3 months back. The other 2 dogs are 2 females, i have a male german shepherd but he was snipped a long time ago.

Her parents were barkers too but they werent like that, would bark if anyone came into the yard, or if they seen a rabbit (live in the country). She just seems to bark at nothing!

She has selective hearing, knows the words din dins lol. Last time she was off the lead she took off and i tried calling her back, even squeaking her toy. She eventually turned towards me and i got on my hands and knees and encouraged her to come, but she just started running about and totally ignored me. She was never the first dog back but she would obey.

 

[woolly]

I have to suggest that she really is not getting enough exercise and stimulation. These are classic traits of frustration and at 19 months old she is pushing her boundaries. If she is being walked at 5 and fed at 6 the walk can't be long and also if she has been running around the feed could cause bloating in such a large breed. I would suggest that she needs a really good area to stretch her legs in for a good few hours a day. This will have to start in a reasonably safe area obviously. I find that if you can do this and pretty much ignore the dog until it comes back to you then reward proffusely...after a while when the dog has sniffed around and 'read the daily paper' seen what's hot and what's not in the neighbourhood, then you can start of recall training. I appreciate this can only be done in a secure area. Maybe ask a farmer if he would mind an empty field being used (if fencing is good and secure etc) I appreciate this is not always possible. Best of luck.

 

[AmyMay]

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I have to suggest that she really is not getting enough exercise and stimulation

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Absolutely agree. Sounds bored, bored, bored.....

 

[prose]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I have to suggest that she really is not getting enough exercise and stimulation

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Absolutely agree. Sounds bored, bored, bored.....

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I'm afraid I have to agree. If you can't let her off the lead until you've worked on "come", perhaps you could make the walks disciplined in some way; make her feel as though she's working.

Have you tried adding a canine backpack a la Cesar Milan? This will make the walk much more challenging and give her a designated role.

 

[Cobland]

She comes to the yard with me sometimes but YO has his own dogs and all she would do would go and annoy them so had to stop taking her.

Unfortunately there are no secure fields in the area, farmers around here dont like dogs. I mentioned what yous said to hubby and he suggested renting the large indoor arena at the RDA nearby, that way they get a nice donation and we get her trained!

I hate not letting her off the lead, had someone suggest (not on here) that i get one of those connecting chains and hook her up to tyson who does come back. Then praise them both with something like chicken when it happens. However shes alot bigger and stronger than him!!

 

[Malibu]

bored bored bored , the dog is bored, wouldnt you be too, it is a working dog so let its brain work and get some stimulation beofre it goes insane!

 

[foxviewstud]

i have used that method of connecting her to the other dog and i have a male rottie and a collie who is fairly small but the collie will always bring him back, i have also advised another person to do it with a rottie who wouldnt come back and it worked for his too, rotties are a very stubborn breed when they want to be, however you need to make sure she does not overdo the exercise as rotties can suffer later on as a result of that, the other option is put her on a lung line when out and when you call her give the line a little pull until she comes back this also works, make sure you have a good treat for her when she does come back, putting a muzzle on her will not help it will prob wind her even more, you said she gets fed the same time as you???? stop that as she needs to know she is bottom of the pack, let her see you eat first and then she gets fed when you want to feed her, when the baby is here she gets fed after the baby, she seems stressed over something by the way you have described it could be the fact she knows there is a baby on its way, my collie went very funny when i was pregnant, did she used to be in the house????if so that may be stressing her out if you can get her back in house keep an eye on her to catch her messing and give a really good telling off, this is what i had to do with my rottie as he had been in kennels he is now quite good and very rarely messes in the house. i hope this helps as would be very sad if you had to give her up.

 

[ecrozier]

Lol, sorry, I know it isn't a laughing matter but I love the idea of attaching your dog to another one so it gets dragged back! The image of my rottie trying to go in one direction and whatever was attached to him going the other way....

Anyway, sorry, back to the issue.
She might well be a bit bored - what happens between those walks? Is she in her pen the rest of the time?
Could you go and do agility training or something - Kaib (our rotter) isn't exactly agile but he loved his agility training, and it did help him learn to be off the lead and still stay close.
He did also go through an 'adolescence' at about 18 months old for about 9 months I'm afraid, where he did take to just wandering off sometimes and definately developed selective hearing at times. Fortunately he was never loud or destructive but did once or twice run off and stay just out of reach - think it became a game. Best plan was to ignore him - he ran off at a competition once and after trying once to catch him, I got in the horsebox and drove off! He absolutely sh@t himself - luckily I knew the drive was over 1 mile long, but it did him good as he chased the lorry all the way down, once I stopped (well before reaching the road) he was very glad to get in!
He did grow out of it, so some of the problems you are having could be like that, although it does sound rather more serious than ours, and totally agree that a good trainer, who will help you to ensure she knows her place in the pecking order, would help masses!
Best of luck!

 

[foxviewstud]

hehe it is funny but does work, i have also driven off and like you say they hate it and leg it after you, and generally wont let you out of their sight for a while lol lol the boys are terrible for wandering around espec if they still have their bits like mine but ssshhhh dont tell him i plan to have them off hehe otherwise he will start acting up if he hears about it lol lol lol